Search results : 797

RT has been fined GBP 200 000 by Ofcom following its previous decision (see Iris 2019-3/17) that the broadcaster had breached the regulator’s due impartiality Code of Conduct rules concerning seven programmes broadcast by the channel over a period of approximately seven weeks between 17 March 2018 and 4 May 2018, primarily concerning the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in Salisbury on 4 March 2018. One of the seven programmes concerned coverage of the Syrian conflict and adopting a pro Russian stance without acquiring alternative or opposing opinions. The Ofcom licence for...

On 4 July 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) delivered a judgment on whether Lithuania’s media authority could impose an obligation on all broadcasters requiring that a UK-based channel could be broadcast in Lithuania only in pay-to-view packages, as it had found that one of its programmes “contained information that incited hatred”. The CJEU held that such a measure did not infringe Article 3(1) of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD), which provides that member states “shall not restrict retransmissions” of broadcasts from another member state. The case concerned...

Under section 123 of the Data Protection Act, the Information Commissioner must prepare a code of practice that contains such guidance as the Commissioner considers appropriate in respect of standards regarding the age-appropriate design of relevant “information society” services that are likely to be accessed by children. The Code must be presented to Parliament; thereafter, under section 127, it must be taken into account by the Commissioner when considering whether an online service has complied with its data-protection obligations. The Commissioner in drafting the code is required to consider...

On 16 May 2019, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, settled privacy and data protection claims against Splash News and Picture Agency, who used a helicopter to take photographs of his home in Oxfordshire. The property is located in a secluded area surrounded by private farmland which is not accessible to photographers. In January 2019, Splash, a paparazzi agency which takes and syndicates images for commercial gain, chartered a helicopter which flew over Prince Harry’s home at low altitude allowing it to take photographs “of and into the living area and dining area of the home and directly into the bedroom.” The...

The Supreme Court determined that the defendant’s words published on Facebook were not defamatory. The original trial judge was wrong to confine his meaning of the words to two dictionary definitions, and failed to properly consider the post’s context whereby readers would momentarily glance at words and not apply “a lawyerly analysis”. Nicola Stocker (the defendant) and Ronald Stocker were spouses, but their marriage ended with Mr Stocker subsequently forming a relationship with Ms Bligh. On 23 December 2012, a Facebook exchange occurred with Mrs Stocker informing Ms Bligh that Mr Stocker had...